'Crumbs' by Al Bajet - 48 Hour Film Project : Singapore 2009

Forrest Grump says, “Life is like a box of chocolates”, I say ‘Life is a jigsaw puzzle of clues’

‘Crumbs’ is an interesting film that has cleverly plotted subtle clues throughout this detective genre, which develops an unexpected twist at the end. Like the classic children story, ‘Hansel & Gretel’, audiences begin to follow the investigators on cookie trails, which eventually lead them into the killers’ den.

As the film screened for the second time, the planted subtle clues revealed themselves which links directly back to the film title ‘Crumbs’. With an extra attentive eye, minor details like the cookie monster that was placed beside the first victim, scattered crumbs at the first crime scene, the female investigator taking her time to ‘indulge’ the chocolate chip cookie and the cookie crumbs found beside the deceased news reporter were spotted.

Humor was also injected occasionally to soften the mood through words and exaggerated actions. Words like ‘Tick, Tock, your time is up’ coupled with the exaggerated shock reaction, the mischievous scheming look on the news reporter’s face as she tip toes her way to follow the investigators. Some how, every film needs a touch of humor or a pun some where to create that film’s unique touch.

One of my favorite scenes was where both investigators were waiting for the bill. While the male investigator called for the bill, the camera focused on the female investigator’s process of emotions. From the careful bite off the cookie, the facial emotions that flinched slightly during the conversation and the male investigator recovering from the ‘stalker’s message’, captured and intensify the suspense of the film.

Before the audience could suspect some thing amiss, the investigators were off chasing after the waitress. Within a minute, the investigators were left with an empty house, a lost target, a new deceased victim, waiting for back ups and a clueless direction.

“Next, We are Next!”

“….. No, actually you… are… next…”

A partner whom you have been working the case with almost 24/7, the person who has been next you all the time were the answers to the clues. Alone he stood trying to recover from what happened while the waitress snipped and played with the scissors and the female investigator’s eerie smirk marks the unexpected ending of this film.

Even though the clues in the film were not spotted the first time, the ending made up for it. Like the film, as we try to find the reasons and answers behind questions, we tend to forget that the answers were right underneath our nose.